Tuesday, July 01, 2008

150 pages, 39 weeks, and 3 centimeters

So this morning I was trying to take the milk out of the fridge for my coffee when a huge spasm seized my back (no, not that kind of spasm or that part of my back) and I lost my grip and milk spilled everywhere. I wasn't so much crying over the, well, you know, as the incredible difficulty of bending over to clean it up. If I'm going to be hunched over my ginormous belly, forcing my lungs into my collarbone and cutting off my air supply, for that long, I'd really much rather be giving myself a pedicure.

But it's all good. I may have not had a baby via a painless, 1/2 hour delivery, but I did finish my book! It took a month of uninterrupted concentration and a back-to-the-wall self-imposed deadline, but I did it. I think we have all heard the comparisons between gestating a baby and a book so I will not go there, except to say that this book has been in the works for a lot longer than either of my babies, not to mention demanding a lot more willpower than the forces of nature that are pregnancy and birth, so the feeling of elation and relief at having finished is tremendous. (Also, I think my editor would be very surprised if I dropped Baby Brother off with him after he is born.) Of course, what I've written is a draft. I know there will be further revisions and other tasks after my editor has his shot at it, but I feel I will be able to make time for that somehow after Baby Brother is on the outside. I am just so glad to have all the big thinking work, the updated research and pushing to new conclusions, behind me. There are still a few things on the old to-do list that I would like to cross off before life changes forever around here, but basically now the decks are cleared for Baby Brother's arrival.

Which is a good thing, because at 39 weeks I am already walking around 3 centimeters dilated. No effacement action, though, and Baby's head is still floating. But still, free centimeters! I'll take 'em (who wouldn't?).

I am also pleased to report that Jasper is running and jumping around like his old self, despite the raw, gaping hole in his leg onto which J and I have to smear liquid skin daily (yuck). Furthermore, our regular mailman is back from vacation, which may not sound like good news to you, but his daily rounds – with his little box of dog treats – are pretty much the highlight of Jasper's life, so between that and the feeling better, we've got a happy hound again.

Here is Iris' zoo calendar for the month of July. Back when she first got it, we went through all the months and made special notes and decorations on all the family birthdays and other important dates. I told her July was the month we were expecting Baby Brother to be born, but we couldn't know exactly which date. She proceeded to draw a baby on the 11th and to scribble out every other day. So there you have it: in the world according to Iris, Baby Brother will come on July 11th.

Works for me.

PS. My friend Kat wins the Perceptiveness Prize for noticing something in my last post that even J and I had not noticed: when the refinishers put the handles back on our kitchen cabinets, they replaced them backwards. I can't believe it took someone looking at before-and-after pictures on the computer to see such a fundamental change in the kitchen J and I use every day, but there you have it.